Missing Hawaii woman found alive in Mexico: Shocking turn in Hannah Kobayashi Case

Hannah Kobayashi, a 32 year old woman from Hawaii who was reported missing on November 29, 2024, has been found to have willingly travelled to Mexico.

After failing to board a flight from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to New York, Hannah went missing from the airport.

Her family when not able to establish any contact with her, following which they filed a missing person’s report with the LAPD.

Police Chief McDonnell said that Hannah Kobayashi was reported missing on November 13 but the police started investigating on November 15 accompanied by the FBI.

The police department launched an investigation into Hannah’s disappearance, checking security cameras and interviewing witnesses.

New evidence was found by the LAPD on December 1, 2024 after investigators checked the footage from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The footage was recorded on November 12 at 12:13p.m. at a land port in San Diego’s San Ysidro neighbourhood.

In the footage, Hannah was clearly seen crossing the border into Mexico on foot with her luggage.

Voluntary Missing Person Case

LAPD stated that Hannah had been planning on disconnecting herself from the modern connectivity and probably missed her flight from LAX to New York intentionally.

This new evidence made the LAPD classify this case as voluntary missing person case but the LAPD Chief McDonnell at a news conference on December 2 said that they will keep the investigation open until they ensure Hannah’s safety.

The U.S. Department of State has been notified and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City is also prepared to provide any help to Hannah if needed.

Police Investigation with new evidence

Police Chief McDonnell said that there is no evidence of human trafficking or foul play.

Lt. Douglas Oldfield of the Missing Persons Unit Department further added that detectives looked at her social media and there were some posts that showed he desire to disconnect from her phone.

He also added that they can be wrong about their claim but they are sure that Hannah abandoned her phone at Los Angeles International Airport.

According to LAPD, Hannah landed in Los Angeles on November 8 and then intentionally missed her connecting flight to New York City.

She also had her luggage sent back to Los Angeles from New York that she picked on November 11 and after that she lost all connection to her family members.

 A security footage of Hannah was an unknown man was seen while her family members reported that in some text messages Hannah kept saying someone was trying to steal from her that made the family more worried about her.

The police found the unknown man from the footage who cooperated with the police during the investigation, saying that nothing was wrong. 

The missing case

Hannah Kobayashi landed at LAX on November 8 to catch a connecting flight to New York as she had planned to visit New York’s Museum of Modern Art as she wanted to be an artist and photographer, said her family.

But due to insufficient time, she missed her connecting flight as she was not able to reach the departure gate from arrival gate on time.

Hannah posted a photo of herself on her Instagram account near The Grove shopping center in the Beverly grove neighbourhood which was 12 miles north of Los Angeles.

That day, her family reported to the police that they received some concerning messages from Hannah in a voice that didn’t seemed to be hers.

November 12, Hannah was seen at a Greyhound bus station in downtown which was the last day her family members were aware of her whereabouts through Facebook timeline.

Family’s response

Chief McDonnell said that Hannah has no criminal record and she has done nothing criminally wrong and that they are urging her to contact her family as they are worried about her safety.

They further added that she has her right to privacy but a simple message to her family about her safety would reassure them.

Ryan Kobayashi, Hannah’s father died by suicide on November 24 near Los Angeles International Airport as a result of several blunt force injuries.

The police Chief apologized to the family for everything they had to go through.